Safe and the like



C. H. WHITTINGHAM 'SAFE AND THE LIKE Filed June f1, 1924 OQ'/ IN N 'llllllv Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES CHARLES H. WHITTINGHAIVI,

SAFE AND Application filed .Tune a,

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES HENRY l/VHIrriNcHAM, a subject of the Kingof Great Britain, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Varwick,England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safes andthe like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safes and the like, andV is chiefly designedto provide means whereby a slidable lock bolt may be arranged to controlelectric alarm circuits so as to give an alarm when any surreptitious orunauthorized attempt is made to tamper with or force the safe.. Such analarm may be raised by an attempt to move the slidable bolt beyondnormal fastening position or by a disturbance of the door of the safewhen said door is in its closed position.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the lock case lookingfrom the front side.

Fig. 2 represents a sectional side view of the electrical contact on theinner face of `the lock case and the adjacent part of the body of thesafe in the closed position.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the safe with thek door open on areduced scale.

Anyone having designs against a safe naturally wishes to know if it isin fact locked before seeking to gain access by explosives or bymanipulating the combination, for if it be not locked easy access may behad at once. Therefore, the natural and practically automatic. firstaction is to try the bolt before making any move toward blowing orpicking. Having this natural first action, the testing out of the bolt,in view and the desirability of sounding an alarm before the safe hasbeen opened rather than afterward, I have provided a constructionwhereby movement of the locking bolt in the locking direction beyond apredeterminedpoint results in the energizing of a signal.

In carrying the invention into practice, the lock case 1 of the safedoor 2 is provided as usual with a slidable door-securing or lock bolt 3which is adapted to be locked by a key lock 4, the bolt of which entersa recess 5 in the tail of said door-securing or lock bolt.

Upon the bolt bar 3 is an electrical contact 6 which is normally atbreak even PATENT OFFICE.

OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

THE LIKE.

1924. Serial No. 717,776.

when the bolt has been shot forward for locking purposes, in whichposition it is shown in the illustration at Fig. 1, the bolt being keptfrom the eXtreme forward position by a bow spring 7 or other shapedresilient medium, so that unless the bolt is urged beyond normallockedposition, the electrical contact is at break. From one side of thecontact G runs an electrical lead 8 which is joined up to the terminal 9of the electric bell 10 and passes by way of the terminal 11 through thelead 27 to the contact 12 with which the bolt of the key lock 4.- isadapted to engage. From the contact 12 the lead 28 is continued to theterminal 13 of the battery 14:, and from the terminal 15 thereof thelead 29 passes to the opposite side of the contact 6. The electric bell1() and the battery 14 are located in recesses formed between thefireproof filling 16. Conveniently, the electric bell and the batteryare mounted upon hinge plates 17 and 18 respectively, for enablingaccess to them for repair and replacement.

A separate battery and bell circuit is provided by the lead 27 runningfrom the bell terminal 11 to the key contact 12, thence through the lead28 to the battery terminal 13, and from the battery terminal 15 backthrough the lead 19 to t-he bell terminal 20, the circuit beingcompleted when the switch bar 30 is released by the armature. of theelectromagnet.

VVit-h the bolt 3 thrust forward in-to its fastening position by anoperating handle (not shown) applied to the aperture 21, and the lock Ldoubly locked by a two stepped movement of the bolt, the electriccircuit is complete eXce-pt at the contact 6 between which and t-hesides of the case 1 a small gap is left. Any tampering with the handlewill overcome the resistance of the spring 7 and cause the contact 6 tobe forced against the sides of the lock case 1 and eHect a make whichwill cause the bell to be rung, the battery and bell circuit 19, 27, and28 remaining closed independently of the contact G so that the. alarmcontinues until the safe door has been unlocked. The door-securing bolt3 can be blocked without the switching on of the circuit at the contact12 as shown in Fig. 1.

The inside face of the lock case 1 is provided with an electricalcontact 22 which is adapted to engage with an abutment 23 on` the bodyof the safe, or any other suitable part thereof. From one side of saidcontact, the electrical lead 24: runs to the bell terminal 9, and fromthe bell terminal l1 through the lead 27 and the contact 12 ot the keylock 1l, from 4thence to the battery terminal 13, and from the batteryterminal l5 through the lead 25 to the opposite side ofthe contact 22.Ihen the safe door is closed, the contact 22 lies adjacent the abutment23, or equivalent, such as to leave a ynarrowgap between them wherebythe cir- 'cuit is kept open.

This position may be maintained by a spring 2G of any suitable shape onthe front of the safe body or other posi-tion between the front tace ofthe body liningand the adjacent inner door plate.

Should the door have the slightest inward pressure orbe vibratedinwardly such as by tilting or displacing the safe, or by otherdisturbance7 the spring` 26 will be overcome and the Contact 22 willeffect a make and close the circuit 19, 27, and 28, and there will beraised an audible alarm which will continue until `the door has beenunlocked.

It will be obvious that in lieu of a battery and bell alarm, I mayemploy any other suitable. sound alarm, such for instance as a soundhorn or hooter, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

In alarms for safes, a slidable lock-bolt, and yieldingY resilient meansfor normally preventing the passage of said bolt beyond a predeterminedpoint, in combination with an 'alarm circuit and a switch interposed insaid circuit, independent of said resilient means, and actingto closethe alarm circuit when said lock-bolt is moved beyond said predeterminedpoint against the action of said resilient means. A

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification atBirmingham, England` this 23rd day of May, 1924.

CHARLES H. WHITTINGH'AM.

